"Yes! I will make the trip."

"Good for you, my boy. I can see that you are of the stuff from which heroes are made."

"If you will not consider the question impertinent," remarked Grandon, "I should like to know why it is that you have never taken any of these trips yourself."

"Ah, would that I could," replied the doctor. "As far as I can learn, unhappily, there is no man either on Mars or Venus who has a body like mine."

Grandon could very well believe that there was no man like Dr. Morgan on Venus or Mars. At least, he was quite sure he had never seen any one resembling him on Earth. He was an extraordinary combination of mental and physical power--a veritable superman.

* * * * *

"What do you, personally, expect to gain by sending me on this trip?" Grandon queried.

"A thorough knowledge of the planet Venus as seen by earthly eyes, to satisfy my own curiosity, and to be passed on to the people of the Earth at my death. I will, at regular intervals, establish telepathic rapport with you and Thorne while you are asleep. You will know nothing of these telepathic communications unless I see fit to convey a message to you which will probably come in the form of a dream, so vivid that you will remember every detail. If you wish to communicate with me for any reason whatever, I will learn the fact the first time I establish rapport with you, for this will naturally come, along with the other knowledge obtained from your subjective mind while you sleep."

"What do we have to do in order that this exchange of bodies can be made?"

"You will simply lie down and go to sleep when the time comes. I will attend to the rest. When you awaken you will be in Zarovia. Come with me and I will show you around the place. You are on the peak of a high mountain, more than a thousand miles from Chicago. This is my observatory."

They were now in a huge, glass-domed room, in which stood the largest telescope Grandon had ever seen.

"Perhaps you would like to have a look at the world to which you will soon journey," said the doctor, leading the way up iron stairs to the telescope platform. For several minutes Grandon gazed in awed silence at the silvery sphere.

The professor touched his sleeve.

"Come," he said, "it is time for your journey."

Two cots stood ready in an adjoining room. Grandon lay down on one and Thorne on the other. The doctor sat on a chair between them with a hand on the forehead of each. As he was passing into unconsciousness, Grandon heard the doctor say:

"Good-by, men, and good luck to you."